Heroism and Comic Subversion in the Old English Judith

Abstract

This article argues that the Old English Judith exhibits a more complex and ambiguous relationship to the heroic tradition than is generally admitted. It explores the functions and effects of various comic strategies used in Judith, in order to reassess the poem's relationship to the heroic tradition. It will show that the comic devices of parody, dramatic irony and the grotesque undermine and destabilise the concepts of the male hero, the feast, heroic battle and the comitatus. The Judith of the Old English poem is shown to represent an uneasy compromise between a woman hero who acts like a man and a heroine who plays one of the traditional female religious roles. Judith's essential femininity thus subverts the conventional categories of male hero, while her role as protagonist challenges the traditionally subordinate function of women in heroic poetry. In choosing to stress Judith's spiritual virtues, the poet recognises that, as a woman, she cannot lead a comitatus, like the traditional hero. In this respect she is the antithesis of Holofernes, who is presented as a powerful commander. By depicting Judith as a moral and religious figure, and by emphasising her status as a woman and as a servant of the Lord, the poet rejects a heroic frame of reference for his protagonist. This rejection of the heroic frame is further underlined by the employment of comedic devices to subvert traditional heroic values and institutions. Comic subversion in Judith takes three forms: parody of traditional type scenes; dramatic irony, which undermines the concepts of hero and comitatus; and grotesque humour. However, these elements are often combined for greater cumulative effect. The treatment of Holofernes's drunken feast (15–37) shows how the poet uses a combination of techniques to subvert the heroic convention of the feast. The effect not merely degrades the participants, but overturns a traditional cultural symbol of harmony: The strategies of comic subversion combine to create a disturbing and unsettling poem. The essential cause of the feelings of disquiet felt by the audience is the fact that in Judith a woman is seen to appropriate the role of hero. This action inevitably challenges traditional concepts of leadership and social institutions. The protagonist's strength is moral and spiritual rather than physical, and her leadership is based on her relationship to God rather than to a comitatus. The very presence of a woman in a role conventionally belonging to men leads inevitably to a questioning of traditional heroic expectations, and a re-examination of institutions such as feasting and the comitatus. The poem does not resolve its ambiguous attitude to the heroic, but it poses crucial questions which lie at the heart of the heroic ethos. The Old English Judith confirms the Christian paradox that, with God's help, the seemingly weak and vulnerable can become strong, and the seemingly powerful and unassailable can become weak.